1. it's harder to get a good stick than it looks 2. your hands will become numb almost instantly 3. chunks of ice will fall on you constantly

swing at depressions not bulges, make every stick bomber, stay warm and have fun!

Also -

Lower your arms FREQUENTLY to avoid/recover from the pump and fatigue. Don't swing unless BOTH feet are well planted. Keep your feet farther apart (horizontally) than your tools. Wide stance in other words. Don't move on bad tools; get 'em in there. Depressions not bulges as mentioned above (worth saying twice!) but also white, aerated, snowy ice rather than the dark, hard, airless stuff. Use sharp tools and crampons. Don't be afraid to try anything/everything. If you knock off your weight in ice, you need to go home. (Seriously - try to be gentle. Do as little damage as possible. This is important in an area that sees as much use as the Catskills.) Relax and enjoy the learning curve. Don't be all "This is so gnarly" about it. It's just climbing. You're not in a Mt Dew commercial.

thanks for the notes guys. It's my first trip, so it will definitely be a just go out and have fun with it type of learning experience. will be mindful of your tips (and my guides) and try to stay safe.

1. it's harder to get a good stick than it looks 2. your hands will become numb almost instantly 3. chunks of ice will fall on you constantly

swing at depressions not bulges, make every stick bomber, stay warm and have fun!

Also -

Lower your arms FREQUENTLY to avoid/recover from the pump and fatigue. Don't swing unless BOTH feet are well planted. Keep your feet farther apart (horizontally) than your tools. Wide stance in other words. Don't move on bad tools; get 'em in there. Depressions not bulges as mentioned above (worth saying twice!) but also white, aerated, snowy ice rather than the dark, hard, airless stuff. Use sharp tools and crampons. Don't be afraid to try anything/everything. If you knock off your weight in ice, you need to go home. (Seriously - try to be gentle. Do as little damage as possible. This is important in an area that sees as much use as the Catskills.) Relax and enjoy the learning curve. Don't be all "This is so gnarly" about it. It's just climbing. You're not in a Mt Dew commercial.

today, here in Newark, NJ it's a balmy 55 and will get up into the 60s this afternoon.

a little less warm in New Paltz, NY, current temp is 39. But, it's going to be in the 50s up there today.

messaged my guide, he said that tomorrow it will be much cooler (mid to high 30s) but this warm weather will obviously have an effect on the ice conditions and routes. not necessarily a complete negative though!

we're doing a snowshoe/ice climbing combo...so, we'll probably have to do quite a bit of trecking to find safe routes. still, looking forward to it and hoping for the best.

today, here in Newark, NJ it's a balmy 55 and will get up into the 60s this afternoon.

a little less warm in New Paltz, NY, current temp is 39. But, it's going to be in the 50s up there today.

messaged my guide, he said that tomorrow it will be much cooler (mid to high 30s) but this warm weather will obviously have an effect on the ice conditions and routes. not necessarily a complete negative though!

we're doing a snowshoe/ice climbing combo...so, we'll probably have to do quite a bit of trecking to find safe routes. still, looking forward to it and hoping for the best.

Can you PM me about the condition? Heading up on Sunday, debating whether to ski or climb.

as I mentioned, NJ was hit with a warm spell the end of last week and I was worried it would have an effect on the ice climbing conditions. the morning we left, it was about 40 degrees and on our way up the NY Throughway, the temperature seemed to hover around 35 and there wasn't a lot of snow on the ground.

I could see the Gunks as we got closer to New Paltz. Never seen them in person, but I knew what it was I was looking at (and had it confirmed by my guide) and it looked amazing. Can't wait to return in a month or two to do some rock climbing.

Anyway, we met our guide in New Paltz and drove about 45 minutes to a site near Hunter Mountain. As soon as I stepped out of the car and felt the air, I knew that I should have brought extra layers. Luckily, my guide brought along an extra micro puff jacket (I just ordered one online today for myself) and I was good to go!

Climbing was a little ackward at first. Kick, Kick, Chop, Chop...had to get comfortable with coordination and make my left hand more accurate with the axe. But, after about 20 feet I started to get a rhythem and was at the top in no time. We had snowshoed earlier with our guide, and the walk up the mountain to the site took a while, so we could only send the route a few times...which is fine, since it was pretty exhausting.

The trip down the mountain back to the car was an adventure in itself. The incline of the slope, all the rocks and, the hidden holes, not too mention the ice! Our guide gave us a hip-belay every 30 or so feet from behind a tree. We watched the sun slip behind the mountain in front of us and felt the temperature drop and saw light vanish making it a real challenge, but none the less exciting.

Anyway, made it back in one peice with a few bruises and sore calve muscles. Already looking forward to the next trip.

I got on ice for the first time this season too. My impression has been that on the low angle stuff it is basically just a matter of learning how to swing tools and stick crampons. The climbing was pretty straight forward.

At vertical and slightly overhanging angles, I found the experience to be something like trying to do a set of chinups on jugs, but I have to keep hammering the hangboard back into the wall and worry about it popping off and hitting me in the face.

Gunkiemike threw out some great tips and I'll just throw out this one. To generate head speed for your ice tool (sounds perverted doesn't it?) swing it like a hammer, snapping your wrist forward. You won't swing so hard or so many times getting your pick to stick where you want it.

I went ice climbing for the first time this year and loved it! Before I was even lowered off my first climb (low angle climb) I was already plotting how to buy my gear etc. I did three climbs, the last one was very long and vertical. I figured I would just see how high I could get and then get lowered. Turns out there were a lot of holes/divots in the ice column so I really didn't have to swing my axes every time. Made it so much easier, so much so, that I easily reached the top of the climb without a pump.

I bought a pair of used ice boots on craigslist, now looking for crampons and axes. Next winter is going to be a lot of fun, adding ice climbing to x-c skiing, snowshoeing and winter hiking at the gunks.